Just to add...

I should have put this in my previous post but I was rushing and forgot !
Since finding out about Whisper White and Prismacolor and it working for me, I have read on other blogs about people who use that combination all the time !
So I don't want to lay claim to being the first to offer this tip but it was new to me at the time and helped me so I thought I'd pass it on in the hope it may benefit someone else

Oh and the reason I was rushing was to go and fetch our copy of Wii Fit, can't wait to try it !!!!

Prismacolor and Stampin' Up!

Hello

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I am still suffering with a really bunged up nose and chesty cough, aghhh! So crafting has not been going down round here !!

I have a sort of a tip for those of you who may have seen the lovely images coloured with Prismacolor pencils but have struggled with them yourself, I was one of those people , I loved the effect and treated myself to a set from eBay but could I use them NOOOO !
I read the tutorials on different blogs but try as I might I just could not get the colour to move, so the poor pencils sat gathering dust......
Then I had an email from a lady (also called Nicola) wanting to buy some Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock,
she had also been struggling with those pesky pencils and had read on a forum that Whisper White CS was good to use with them so I told her I'd give it a try and what do you know it worked, (Thanks Nicola !) here are the results....
Here I have coloured the truck from Stampin' Up! Loads of Love set (104606) along with the flowers from the same set.....This is the same image with the lady from the Loads of Love Accessories set (105349), I have deepened areas with Twinkling H2O's and added some more sparkle with Spica pens.
I have used my Stamp a ma jig (101049)to line the images up perfectly.This next one is a stamp by Peachy Keen and again I have added a bit more depth with H2O's,
The background papers in the pics are DCWV Spring Glitter stack.
I found the colour to move and spread so much better on the smooth surface of the Whisper White CS,, in a lot of the tutorials I had read it said to use paper with more grain, even watercolour paper, I suppose for a more experienced colourer then that would give a different finish but if you are a beginner struggling with Prismacolors then why not give Stampin' Up! and Whisper White CS a try!!

A new Blog to Visit and some candy !

I recently discovered a new blog , Katharina makes the most gorgeous cards, amazing detail and colouring with what I call a 'Scrapbook' look to them.
At the moment Katharina is celebrating her Birthday (which incidentally is the same day as mine ! ) by giving away some amazing blog candy, if you would like a chance to win please visit her blog, the link is on the left, and don't forget to check out her lovely work whilst you're there !

Quick Post

Hi all,
Just a quick post to say I haven't forgotten you !
It's been a busy week and Thursday was my birthday, I was lucky enough to get some lovely pressies, so I've pampered myself a bit with my new goodies !
I'm now bunged up with a horrible cold, I can't believe I've got this so soon after fighting off the last nasty virus !!! , oh well, it could be a lot worse so I shouldn't complain !
I have some coloured images to post soon,along with a tip (well sort of !) for those of you who may be struggling with Prismacolor Pencil's, as I did.
Back soon with those, enjoy your weekend.

Baby Coaster Book

Remember the card I showed a while ago for the baby sister of one of Freya's school friends?

Well I decided to have a go at a coaster book to give to the family, it's the first time I ever made a gift so I was a bit nervous about giving it but I went for it and it seemed to be well received !
Anywaaay here it is....
The papers are from an old TLC kit as is the cardstock and the pastel rub ons, fibres and white rub ons are from Making Memories, Flowers are prima, bubble stickers are Sue Dreamer, Gems from Do Crafts, sentiments Pink Petticoat and everything was aged with Ranger Distress ink in Old Paper.
I'd be grateful for any feedback and if you have any questions just shout!

Hmmm... no sure about this one !

I like the colours and the layout, it's the border I'm not too happy with, it was a bit of a mistake to be honest. It started off black, but I thought that looked too harsh, so I went over it with white gel pen a couple of times, then it looked too thick so I tried to soften it by adding a touch of glitter, do you ever wish you had never started something......

Here is a close up of the glitter on the butterfly.

Recipe :
Cardstock - Bazzill Bling
Butterfly - Lilli of the Valley
Papers and Words - Scrapbook Magazine
Glitter - Stickles and Spica Pen

Someone Special

This is the card I made using SC169,

my Mum asked me to make a card for her best friend so I wanted too keep the style a bit more traditional but I couldn't resist a bit of ink distressing
I've used products from Flowersoft on this card, the brads on the purple panel are actually stickers, I was debating putting them in the top left corner but in the end I decided to leave that as white space, I'm glad I did now!
Enjoy your day's

Baby Note Card and Pastel Pencils for sale

One of the Mums at Freya's school was due to have a Baby Girl during the Easter break, this is the card I made...It is a note card style, I got the inspiration from a card in an old issue of PaperCrafts magazine,
The image is from the Stampin' Up! 'Year after Year' set, coloured with Copic markers and highlighted with a clear Spica pen, paper is from a Tinker and Co download, the Ric Rac is Making Memories as is the Safety pin, I cut a notch to hold the front flap and put a little clear bauble on.
The inside is below....
The little round image is one from a set that Stamping Caz designed and offered on the Cricut Forum ...some time ago now! Thanks Caz
The Sentiment is Pink Petticoat , oh and the cardstock is Bazzil
I like this card , just not sure about the fact it doesn't stand on it's own, it needs propping

I have been sorting through my craft stuff and in an attempt to make some space I have found a few bits to try and sell, I have a set of 24 Derwent Pastel Pencils...
I don't think I ever used these pencils ! I had to sharpen the blue one (third from right) as the lead ( or whatever it's called!) was broken when I got them home. You can read more about them here.
I am offering them for £14.00 + £2.00 p&p, I can accept payment by Paypal, email me if you are interested or with an offer.
Thanks for stopping by
Nicola

Quick Post

Just a quick post to show you my last Easter card, for this one I have quilled a little Bunny and some flowers....I have matted the quilled bits onto Stampin' Up! So Saffron, this also forms the card base.
The patterned papers are from the DCWV Pocket full of Posies stack, the sentiment is Pink Petticoat, and the ribbon I've had for ages!
I have added a doodled frame and some faux stitching using my SU white gel pen.
Hope you all had a lovely Easter Sunday, back soon
Nicola

Happy Easter

Another post ! I hear you say, yes you're right this is unheard of recently,

but I have a couple of cards to show so why not!!
Here is the first...
I based the layout for this one on this sketch over at Splitcoast stampers,
The patterned paper is from Funky Fairy,
The cardstock is Stampin' Up! and the image and tag is from Pink Petticoat.
I've coloured the chick with Copic Markers and then cut and matted it with Nestabillities.
I've added some ribbon and a bit of glitter and stitched round the panels , oh and the scallop edge was cut with my SU corner rounder punch.

Here is card number 2...This is also based on an SCS sketch you can find here , I altered this one slightly to fit with my design,
The cardstock base is SU, the patterned papers are by DCWV from their spring glitter stack, image is as previous card and I've just added a flower and rhinestone to finish off.
Well that's it for now, hope you all have a lovely Easter,
Nicola

Hello again! and a card

Yes it is me, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, well not yet anyway!!

I'm sorry it has been so long, we seem to have had so much going on and then to top it all off the girls and me have been poorly, first Evie, then Freya and now me, I think I'm on the mend now but I still don't feel great!
For a couple of weeks we had been hard at work on our garden ( I say we, my role was more supervisory!).
A couple of years ago I had the idea to get rid of the grass and have one half filled with play bark and the other gravel, I thought it would be easy to maintain but let's just say it was not my greatest idea ever, soooo, we decided to have the garden turfed again!
Here are some pics
The before with the play bark taken up
And the new turf, we will be adding in stepping stones later
And a cute one of Evie 'helping'!
Now I just have to try and keep the girls off of the garden for a couple of weeks, not Good timing with it being Easter Hols!
Anyway hope I haven't bored you with that! I do have a card to show as well...

The image is by Pink Petticoat
and I have coloured it with Copic Markers (love these things!!)and then cut it out and matted it using Nestabillities dies. The papers are a download from Tenivo this lady has a gorgeous selection of papers you must have a look!
The ribbons are HOTP and the little baubles are from my local craft shop.
I have added a little sparkle with some glamour dust and also inked most of the edges
Hope you like it!

These last few weeks I've realised that I don't have time to blog as much as I first tried, I struggle to find time for my cards since I started my job, so from now on I'm going to try posting weekly and see how it goes but please don't give up on me , I don't get that many visitors here but the occasional comments I receive about my cards are so nice as I don't have many crafting friends to bounce ideas off!!
Thanks for stopping by
Nicola

Back Soon!

I will be back and posting soon, we got a new computer and I've been busy setting it up and transferring data etc , all great fun!!
Happy Crafting
Nicola

Dufex fairy

Hello All,

Here is a card I made for Freya....

I never used to like Dufex, but when I saw these die cut decoupage sheets I thought I'd give them a go.... I actually quite like them now!

The cardstock is Bazzill Bling, the spotty paper is Pink Petticoat and the label I'm not sure about!

As you may have noticed my cardmaking style is quite varied, I don't tend to stick to one technique, I would say my main style is colouring and distressing but I like playing around with other techniques as well, and it's a good excuse to spend, spend, spend!!! (If only I could actually afford it!)

Speaking of spending, I took the plunge and brought the Cricut Design Studio software, I haven't used it yet cos we are probably going to be changing our laptop soon, so I thought I'd wait and load it onto the new one, but I don't know if I'll hold out that long, do any of you use it at all, what are your thoughts about it? Any tips or tricks would be appreciated!

Nicola

PS apologies for any typos, my blogger spell check isn't working at the moment, is anyone else having that problem?

Valentine Card

Well here it is, the Valentine card I was making but couldn't show before.....

This card is Pink Petticoat through and through!, everything I have used is from the Sweet Cupcake Collection.

I was a bit concerned that the card was a bit pink and girly for my Husband! but by inking all the edges with Black Soot distress ink, I think it has taken the edge off the pink, I hope!! , let me know what you think.

The only other thing to mention is that I have added Diamond Glaze to the cherry on top, I don't think the picture picks that up though!

Anyway I hope you all have a lovely Valentines Day

Nicola

Card to show soon.....

I have made a start on the valentines card I wanted to make, I can't show you yet just in case Michael decides to check in on my blog!

Instead I'm posting a card a made a little while ago, another Birthday card for one of Freya's friends.. As you can see it is another from my Fairy stage and my love of ribbon and sparkle can definately be seen here, LOL

The paper is Pink Petticoat which I tore before mounting on the left side of the card, the image is a set that I ordered from eBay, I'm not sure of the seller I'm afraid, I've coloured it with Twingling H2O's, it is really shimmery IRL, and I've matted this and the sentiment onto holographic card.

It's a very simple layout but I'm really pleased with the pretty way the card turned out.

Have a good evening and happy crafting.....

Paper Nation Fisherman and Copics!

This is a card I have made for my Dad's Birthday and it is also my very first attempt at Copic colouring!

I have stamped the Paper Nation Fisherman onto Stampin' Up! Whisper White with Brilliance Graphite Black and coloured with my Copics ( I love the shading effects you can get with them, I need more practice yet though!!)

All other papers are by Pink Petticoat as are the sentiments, I've inked nearly everything with Ranger Distress ink in courderoy.

I used the Splitcoast Stampers Card Sketch challenge no. 159 for this card, I love sketches!!!

I'm sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been a bit off colour and haven't really felt like getting all my craft stuff out of an evening but hopefully I'm getting back to it now!

Hope you are all well and have had lovely weekends, back soon....

Nicola

Copics on the way!!!

Yaaaay! I've finally ordered some Copic Markers, I've been waiting for ages so now I hope they get here soon!!!

I have decided to sell my Prismacolor Pencils, I love the effect but I don't think I can justify 2 lots of expensive colouring mediums!!!

I'm going to list them on eBay within the next couple of days but if anyone is interested please let me know, there are 120 pencils in a collectors tin, some have been lightly used but the majority haven't even been sharpened, I can accept payment by Paypal or cheque, I am asking £60, + p&p.

Now for the Stampin' Up promotion, some of the lovely 2 step stampin sets are on offer at the moment, 2 step stampin is a brilliant technique that gives that allows you to layer images to create amazing colouful results easily, click here to view the promotion, and remember you can place an order by using the contact me button on the left.

Back soon!

Hello, it's been a while....
Sorry for the absence, I will be back soon with some new cards, in the meantime just a quick post with one of my older creations,



another little Tear Bear he is quite a sweetie !
The paper is HOTP and I used dymo tape to make the label, the sentiment is a Pink Petticoat one and I've placed it in a Making Memories metal rimmed tag , hope you like it!


Oh and by the way, if you love Stampin' Up! (how could you not?) watch out for a special offer coming soon...... I'll keep you informed!

Thanks for stopping by
Nicola

Digital Layout

Hi,

Well I haven't made a card for a few days, I seem to have lost my mojo for a while, Oh well I'm sure it will be back!!! LOL

Instead I thought I'd post one of my old Digital Layouts, as I mentioned before I'm hoping to start scrapping again, but I always seem to find that I look at all the hundreds of pictures on the computer and just don't know where to start, I think I need a plan, you know, like a mini album with a theme or something, just to get me going! I'll have to get my thinking cap on!!

Anywhooo, here is one of the layouts......

Oh dear 2006! is it that long ago... I probably didn't do this in 2006 though, I certainly never was a prolific scrapper!

I'm afraid after all this time I don't remember the products I used, so my apologies to the designers, I know I did this layout as part of a Scrapgirls class on Brushwork, if you are interested in Digital scrapping, that site is an excellent place to start!

Thanks for stopping by

Nicola

Beatrix Potter Card

This is the second of the Borthday Cards I needed to make for the parties Freya has been invited to...

The patterned papers are Basic Grey, I inked the edges of the green paper with Tea Dye Distress Ink, the image is from a free magazine gift, I've also inked the edges of these to give a bit of definition, the die cuts have been shaped and then mounted with silicone glue. I've fixed a length of HOTP ribbon down the side and affixed my second attempt at a ribbon blossom to it, I still can't seem to get the really full look that Pam gets on hers, look at her tutorial here.

Overall though I'm happy with the card but I do need a second opinion, do you think it is suitable for a 6 year old girl, I'm not sure if the papers are a bit too grown up?, let me know what you think!

Enjoy your Sunday......

Will post card tomorrow!

I have managed to get my second Birthday card finished but I'm going to wait and take the piccy tomorrow so that flash doesn't spoil it!!

Hope you are all having a good weekend so far, I've been flicking through my Digital Scrapbooking mag, I used to digi scrap a lot but when we changed our computer a while back I didn't get PSE installed for ages, by the time I'd got it back on the new system and reinstalled all my brushes and the like I'd completely got out of the habit of it, but I really want to get started again, the children got my album out the other day, they love looking through it and it made me think how important it is to preserve memories for them ( and us!), maybe I'll dig out my discs and find one of my old layouts to show you......

Enjoy your evenings, and Thanks for stopping by

Nicola

No card to show tonight

I don't have a card to show tonight as hoped, Freya has been off school poorly, she's on the mend now but it's meant I haven't had much time to craft!

The weather has been awful here today, so rainy, recently my husband Michael went from being self employed to being employed, he's a bricklayer, so rainy weather meant no pay as he couldn't work, at least now he's employed that isn't such a worry! I hope none of you have been too badly affected by the recent wet weather, I know there have been a lot of flood warnings again, anyway I best go now as I feel like I'm rambling and I don't want to bore you !!!!

Thanks for stopping by....

Last nights card!

Well here it is...
The card base is Stampin' Up! Soft Subtles CS.
The image is by Pink Petticoat, coloured with Prismacolor pencils, I've matted it onto some red paper (magazine freebie, as was the polka dot paper!), I left a slightly wider border top and bottom and then added faux stitching.
I've placed some paper tabs under the ribbon, these were just strips that I cut and then rounded the corners, and I've added my usual sparkle with a gem on each tab!
The ribbon is my rather poor attempt at a ribbon blossom, I found a tutorial, by a very talented lady on her blog Indigo Studio, see the tutorial here, her cards are amazing and the ribbon blossoms beautiful, I need a lot more practice to get mine to look like those!!
That's it for now, back soon.....

Dead Batteries again!

Hi,

Just wanted to let you know that I will have a card to post tomorrow, it would have been tonight but my camera batteries are dead again!

I actually have a couple of cards to make in the next week or so, Freya has been invited to 2 parties, so that will keep me busy for a while!

See you tomorrow :-)

Fairy decoupage

Here is a card that's quite different to most I make, decoupage is not one of my favourite techniques, don't get me wrong I love the effect but it is waaay too fiddly for me!


I started supplying a local gift shop with some of my cards to sell and the lady who owns the shop told me that fairies and butterflies would go down well .... result, me frantically searching for fairy and butterfly images, this is when I purchased the set of die cut decoupage sheets that this fairy comes from...




I know, die cut decoupage is surely cheating but once it's stuck down who's to know the difference!!
I quite like how the card turned out, I like anything sparkly, pink or fluffy and this card ticks 2 of those boxes!
I mounted the fairy onto an opalescent holographic card and then layered this onto some torn backing paper, I inked the edges of the card base and added some Stickles highlights.

On another note, I've just looked out the window and the sky is sooo black, it looks like there is a big downpour on the way!

Hope you all have good evenings, back soon!

Oh my! Iam a bad Blogger!!

I can't believe my last post was before Christmas! Where does the time go...


Please don't give up on me, I will get back into some sort of routine soon! What with the children being off school and my work hours changing I feel like I've been all over the place, and now school has started we are trying to settle into that routine again, I really haven't done any crafting at all recently !!


I do have a card to show now though, I was asked to make a card for a friend, it's her Dad's 70th Birthday, I know he won't be reading this blog so I think I'm safe to show you the card!!
Here it is..
The gentleman in question enjoys gardening so I wanted to incorporate that into the card, hence the Wheelbarrow and Watering Can, both of which are Cricut die cuts.
I have used all Stampin' Up! Papers and Cardstock, the ribbon is by HOTP.
This card is a bit different for me because I ended up using Peel Offs, I don't tend to use them very often, I distressed the shiny finish a bit to tone in more with the style of the card and I'm now quite pleased with the effect. I have machine stitched the bottom of the blue panel and distressed the cream one with Ranger ink and the SU! distressing tool.
The layout of this card is based on a design I saw on this blog, it's one that I visit regularly for inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by :-)